Categories
Science

A “Well, duh!” study

Occasionally, while perusing EurekAlert!, I come across studies that I like to call “Well, duh!” studies because they seem to come to conclusions that are mind-numbingly obvious. For example, this one: If women want the best possible service at a clothing store, they had better be looking fashionable and well-groomed before they hit the mall. […]

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Skepticism/critical thinking

The 29th Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle

An excruciatingly large 29th Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle has been posted at the Huge Entity. As usual, the skeptical blogosphere has come through, and Danieru has managed to corral the best skeptical blogging out there in, of all things, Mu-Haiku form, as he says: In prose nor dialectic, equality you’ll find, but semantic perspiration, […]

Categories
Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Mercury and autism: RFK Jr. drops another stinky one on the blogosphere

I had wanted to let this cup pass, but couldn’t, not after several readers e-mailed it to me and I went and experienced its inanity first hand. As Michael Corleone said in The Godfather, Part III: “Just when I thought I was finally out, they drag me back in again!” In this case, it was […]

Categories
Medicine

Tangled Bank #48

Tangled Bank #48 has been posted at fellow ScienceBlogger Tara’s Aetiology. Go forth and enjoy the best the science blogosphere has to offer. While I’m carnival barking, don’t forget that the deadline for the Skeptics’ Circle is tonight. The Circle is scheduled to appear at The Huge Entity (cue many puns and jokes using the […]

Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

I was right: The teacher admits that Airborne doesn’t work

A while back, I wrote about Airborne, the “herbal” concoction designed by a schoolteacher that is touted as preventing colds and the flu if taken preemptively or lessening their severity if taken early on in the course of a cold. I concluded that there was no evidence that it did what Victoria Knight-McDowell, a schoolteacher […]